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Ezra Eden
Esdras Idwal "Ezra" Eden (born March 18th, 1995) is a Welsh professional wrestler currently signed to American-based wrestling company United Championship Wrestling Association (UCWA''), where he works in Scottish promotion '''Evolution Wrestling' (EW), where he was the inaugural Evolution World Champion. A relative newcomer to the professional wrestling scene, Ezra Eden has so far wow'ed the crowds of Scotland, where he has spent the majority of his career so far, and blown the expectations of many onlookers out of the water. His time within Evolution Wrestling, becoming the very first Evolution World Champion in only his second match with the company and his second match in professional wrestling at all, has propelled him into popularity in not only the UK but with American audiences. Early Life Esdras Idwal Eden was born in Llandudno, Wales on March 18th, 1995 to Arthur and Marie Eden. His name, Esdras, is the Greek spelling of Ezra, while his middle name, Idwal, means "lord of the wall" in Welsh. An only child, Ezra was brought up being taught of the virtues and benefits of hard-work and dedication within his life. He grew up watching his father, a carpenter and builder by trade, and grew to admire him as his role model in life, with Ezra learning the core values that he holds close to his heart to this day from the lessons that his father would teach him when he watched him work. Eden's first venture into the world of professional wrestling was when he began to watch it on television. Watching the high-octane action and colourful characters on the screen mesmerized a young Ezra into becoming a huge professional wrestling fan, doing whatever he could to watch it on television and go to as many live shows as he could. He soon realized that professional wrestling was his dream job and wanted to do whatever it took in order to earn a living out of the sport. This love of professional wrestling is what would get Ezra into the world sports as both a child and as an adult, specifically his love of wrestling. However, football would also become a huge love of Ezra's life. During his time in high school, Ezra would also enroll into both gymnastics and dance classes at the insistence of his mother. He has since incorporated some of the things he learned in those classes into his in-ring style. He would later go on to study physical education at Cardiff University, but dropped out after a year to pursue his professional wrestling dream in Scotland. Professional Wrestling Career Early Career During his time in high school, Ezra would be notified by a teacher of his about a new wrestling school opening up in Llandudno, headed by Jordan "The Llandudno Lion" Callaghan. An Irish immigrant who had settled with his family in Llandudno when he was a child, Callaghan had recently retired from the business and wanted to open his own school to teach Welsh youngsters who were interested in the craft. Deciding that this was his best option, Ezra would enroll in Callaghan's school and begin to learn under the veteran wrestler. A skilled trainee due to his already athletic capabilities, Ezra excelled in the physical aspects of what Callaghan was trying to teach him, which was one of the main focus points that Callaghan had always wanted to achieve when teaching his students. Soon, Ezra became quite proficient in the art of old-school wrestling, but wanted to incorporate far more gymnastic and high-flying elements into his game. Eden would train at Callaghan's dojo for five years, the last one being the most strenuous part due to him having relocated to Cardiff to study for University. This didn't deter him, however, and Ezra began to make the 3hr drive to Cardiff and back every day he was free in order to continue his studies. This would ultimately benefit Eden in the end, as he was introduced by Callaghan to one of the scouts from an up-and-coming promotion in Glasgow, all the way in Scotland, called Evolution Wrestling. They had recently opened under the banner of the massive American wrestling company Championship Wrestling Coalition and wanted to see what Eden could do due to Callaghan's high praise of the boy. After watching Ezra train for around a week or so, they decided to offer him a contract. Taking the time to discuss it with his parents, close friends and Callaghan himself, Ezra decided that he wouldn't get another opportunity quite like the one he held in his hands right now, and decided to move to Glasgow. Evolution Wrestling (2018 - Present) Evolution World Champion Eden would debut as one of the opening acts of Evolution Wrestling's first show, EVOLUTION: Level One, where he faced the reigning CWC Junior Heavyweight Champion, Jack Tillman. CWC had allowed Tillman to go down to Scotland for a match in order for the promotion's ratings to be boosted for their first show. The company's owner, Alan Gunn, decided that he liked what he had seen from Ezra so far from his tapes and took the good word from the scouts who he had sent out to watch the boy, and so decided that Ezra was the one to go out and face Tillman for the chance to become the CWC Junior Heavyweight Champion. Although he didn't beat Tillman, Eden managed to both take Tillman to the very edge and earn the respect from the champion. Before he was allowed to leave the ring, however, Alan Gunn would appear on the ramp once more and commend Eden for his work in the main event. Deciding that Eden was exactly what this place needed, he booked Ezra against Murphy Flynn next week at the company's second show, EVOLUTION II: The Ballad of Count Dankula, in a High Wire match for the chance to become the very first ever Evolution World Champion, a chance Eden would not underestimate. When the time came around, Eden decided that he wouldn't disappoint. Instead, he would go and shock fans from around the world when he made the decision to embrace his 'free spirit' lifestyle and fling himself from the scaffolding all the way down to take out his opponent, before climbing up once more to unhook the title and become the very first Evolution World Champion, doing it in his second match ever in the company. Knowing that he wouldn't get a chance like this ever again, Eden decided that this was his benchmark. He knew he had to be better than this moment, otherwise he would be letting both himself and his fans down. Before he could even have the chance to enjoy his new championship, Eden would become the poster boy for Evolution Wrestling's spot at the global CWC event United We Stand II. Facing off against Elodie Lachapelle and an old foe in Murphy Flynn, Eden would overcome them both to retain his title and cement himself as a proper champion who could both win and defend his title. After this, Eden would go on to try and become one of Evolution's biggest stars, defeating people like the Evolution Loch Ness Champion Amira and Murphy Flynn's stablemate Connor Doyle in his pursuit of cementing himself upon the top of the mountain. He would soon then find his biggest test at Evolution's first supershow, labelled EVOLUTION V: San Junipero, where he would face Eddie Jacobs for the title. It proved to be one of the most difficult fights that Ezra had ever experienced, but he was able to knock off Jacobs and retain the title for a second time. Ezra's biggest test was yet to come, however. Deciding that Evolution was the place that they wanted to call home, the faction known as the Dogs of War made their debuts in Scotland. Entering himself into the tournament to decide Eden's opponent at the next supershow, EVOLUTION X: Play the Game, was one of the Dogs of War's most ruthless members: Qiang Chen. Ripping his way through the competition, Chen would soon be revealed as Eden's opponent to no particular surprise to the champion. However, it would not be Chen that would become Eden's worst rival. Instead, the headlining star and main member of the Dogs of War, the man known as Mark Storm, decided to ambush Eden and stake his own claim to the title. In response to this, Eden would publicly declare his war against all members of the Dogs of War, inviting any member of the faction to come to Evolution at any time so that he could beat them. Following through with this proclamation, Eden would prepare himself to face whatever the Dogs of War would throw at him. Try as he would, Eden was unable to stop the main man and would be handed his first defeat against Mark Storm. However, he would soon level the playing field by defeating Rumble Reyes at the final show before the supershow, named EVOLUTION IX: Football's Coming Home. At Play the Game, Eden was able to, despite the heavy battering that he took, defeat Qiang Chen and retain his title for a third time, much to the chagrin of Mark Storm. Unable to contain his rage towards Eden any longer, Storm would interrupt the match between Eden and Lisa Seldon at EVOLUTION XI: A Story to Tell and cause a disqualification, before setting himself up for a match with Eden once more. The three would then be joined by Michael Kelly, before General Manager Liam Gunn would decide that Eden would defend his championship against the three opponents alongside him at EVOLUTION XV: Made of Money. However, before Ezra had any time to prepare for the four-way match, it was announced that he was also scheduled to face Mark Storm one-on-one for the Evolution World Championship on Night Three of CWC Worldwide II, live from Madison Square Garden. However, their match would be moved to a local show called EVOLUTION: Resurgence, where it would end in a no-contest after both Storm and Eden's shoulders were on the mat for the referee's three count, rendering the match down to a draw. Eden and Storm would face off again at EVOLUTION XV: Made of Money in a fatal four-way match also involving Lisa Seldon and Michael Kelly. It would here where Storm would outsmart Eden, pinning Michael Kelly instead of him to take advantage of the match rules and win the Evolution World Championship, ending Ezra Eden's first ever professional wrestling title reign at 114 days. Eden vs. Storm Absent from the show after Made of Money, Eden would eventually return to Evolution programming at EVOLUTION XVII: Infinite Lives to team with newfound tag team partner Honey against the Evolution tag team champions Anarchy, composed of Carson Campbell and Oliver Quinn, and come out victorious after Eden pinned Quinn following a Crossguard. Eden would later take Mark Storm by surprise in the backstage catering area, attacking him before slamming his head into the floor with a Gates of Eden DDT. Eden would continue this guerrilla warfare against Mark Storm, attacking him behind at EVOLUTION XVIII: We Can Legally Get Shitfaced Now following his successful world title defence against Lisa Seldon. Although Storm would able to successfully counteract Eden and lead to a even brawl, they would be interrupted by General Manager Liam Gunn as he revealed Eden's decision to invoke his rematch clause and that their match at EVOLUTION: Welcome to NYC would be a two-out-of-three falls match. When the day finally came, the two of them clashed in spectacular fashion. Eden scored the first fall after a Gates of Eden DDT, before Storm scored the second following a Tombstone Piledriver through a table. The final fall would occur after Eden would completely no-sell a Stormstrike from Storm, before screaming in his face at the top of his lungs before collapsing from exhaustion. This would allow Storm to easily pick up the final pinfall and finally end the rivalry between the two of them as the victor, retaining the championship and leaving Eden as the loser out of the two of them yet again, having failed to defeat Mark Storm on every occasion that they had fought thus far. War Against The GOON SQUAD Following his defeat to Mark Storm, Eden's post-match moments would be interrupted by the arrival of Amira Kassouri, Eddie Jacobs, FAUST, Ivy Warner and Scout Mixon, collectively calling themselves the GOON SQUAD. Without mercy or any remorse, they rushed the ring and mauled a defenseless Ezra like animals, making an example of him to the rest of the world watching. General Manager Liam Gunn would bring down the rest of the Evolution locker room to rush the GOON SQUAD away, but not before they had done enough damage to leave Eden comatose and unresponsive in the middle of the ring. Personal Life Eden has gained multitudes of tattoos over his lifetime, both big and small in size. He has stated in interviews that he loves to get tattoos whenever possible because he feels that his body is an 'open notebook with stories to tell' and that he would feel 'boring' without them. A devout Roman Catholic Christian, Eden has incorporated his beliefs both into his wrestling gimmick and his body itself. He has a crucifix tattooed on his palm, while he frequently references the 'Garden of Eden' in his wrestling, which is both a reference to his name 'Eden' and the biblical story of Adam and Eve. He is also an avid football fan, being a supporter of Welsh football team Cardiff City, who are currently in the top tier of English football. Eden has said that he used to be a fan of Chelsea, but instead decided to embrace his roots and go with the team that his father and uncles support, which is Cardiff. On top of all of his other hobbies, Eden is known for his love of skateboarding. He owns numerous skateboards, which he has amassed into a collection, and has multiple signed boards from famous skaters such as Bam Margera, Bob Burnquist, Chris Cole and Danny Way. In Wrestling * Finishing Moves ** Crossguard/Edenfall (Running blockbuster) - 2018-present ** Gates of Eden (Hammerlock DDT) - 2018-present * Signature Moves ** Hand of God'' (Spinning backfist)'' - 2018-present ** Pilgrim's Path (Jumping spinning heel kick) - 2018-present ** Christ Air (Moonsault to a standing opponent; arms outstretched to imitate a crucifix) - 2018-present ** Aeternus (Flying scissor kick) - 2018-present ** Eternal Bliss (Backflip over a running opponent into a hurricanrana) - 2018-present ** Freedom Cry (Basement dropkick followed by a leaping elbow drop) - 2018-present ** Lord and Saviour (Palm strike followed by a double foot stomp to the chest) 2018-present * Theme Songs ** "Falling Down" By Oasis (Amorphous Androgynous Remix) - 2018-present Professional Wrestling Record See full article: Ezra Eden/Statistics Championships and Accomplishments * Evolution Wrestling ** Evolution World Championship (1 time, inaugural)